Xperia Pro nears release, Galaxy S II Function alternative

The release of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro is getting ever closer, and a recent visit to the FCC is proof of that. We have not discussed this handset much in the past, but a recent sighting of Verizon’s upcoming Samsung Galaxy S II Function has got us thinking. If you were to look at the two, you would be forgiven for thinking that the same person designed them.

The Xperia Pro has a compact design with rounded edges and a QWERTY keyboard. You will notice from this image on OSM that the Function has very similar looks. Come to think of it, we are shocked that Verizon are going with this design, as it looks a lot like the Epic 4G, which we know was considered the best Galaxy S from last year.

However, that is where the similarities stop, as the Pro is considered to now be a mid-range phone due to it lacking certain features. One of those in a dual-core processor, you will have to make do with a single-core 1GHz Snapdragon processor. The Galaxy S II is rocking a dual-core processor, and Samsung are already looking to upgrade this in September – even though it has yet to be released in the US.

There seems to be a fine line between mid and high-end phones these days, as the rest of the other hardware is more than capable. One of the best features has to be that 8-megapixel shooter with LED flash, and lets not forget the most important thing, and that is Gingerbread 2.3 – stand by for more HTC Thunderbolt owners to be annoyed yet again. This is something that is becoming an occurrence for them of late, what with the Droid 3 and the Desire Z also getting the update.

With only a month and half to go for the release of the Xperia Pro you now have three choices to make, and that is which color you want. There is a choice of black, silver and red. Sony Ericsson has been losing ground to their rivals during the past year, but the company hopes that this handset will turn things around. However, we look at this phone and cannot help but say that we have seen it all before – Samsung and HTC has offered handsets with this kind of specs over a year ago.

Having said that, there are a few tweaks such as Reality Display with Mobile BRAVIA Engine and the Sony’s Exmor R CMOS sensor that will help fight its corner against other Android handsets.